Vale say keeping a mediumsized dog has the same ecological impact as driving 10,000 km a year
in a 4.6 liter Land Cruiser.
"We"re not actually saying it is time to eat the dog. We"re just saying that we need to think about
and know the ecological impact of some of the things we do and that we take for granted."
Constructing and driving the jeep for a year requires 0.41 hectares of land, while growing and
manufacturing a dog"s food takes about 0.84 hectares-or 1.1 hectares in the case of a large dog
such as a German shepherd.
Convincing flesheating cats and dogs to go vegetarian for the sake of the planet is a nonstarter,
the Vales say. Instead they recommend keeping "greener", smaller, and more sustainable pets, such
as goldfish, chickens or rabbits.
The book"s playful title, and serious suggestion that pet animals may be usefully "recycled", by
being eaten by their owners or turned into pet food when they die, may not appeal to animal fans.
Annoying as the idea may be, the question is valid given the planet"s growing population and limited
resources, Robert Vale said.
"Issues about sustainability are increasingly becoming things that are going to require us to make
choices which are as difficult as eating your dog. It"s not just about changing your light bulbs or taking
a cloth bag to the supermarket," he said.
"It"s about much more challenging and difficult issues," he added. "Once you see where cats and
dogs fit in your overall balance of things, you might decide to have the cat but not also to have the
two cars and the three bathrooms and be a meat eater yourself."
B. create a vivid image
C. show writing skills
D. arouse people"s concern
B. the neglected ecological impact
C. some familiar examples
D. some actual figures
B. Drivers.
C. Animal fans.
D. The authorities.
B. Inspiring.
C. Inviting.
D. Touching.
his seventies, hurries down a busy street.In his hand is a black leather bag.Zeng opens his bag, taking
out two forms. 1 .
Each of the forms contains detailed information of a student.On his arrival two hours later a woman
greets him and leads him to her office where another man is waiting.They are the two village officials.
They inspect the forms handed to them by Zeng and immediately recognize the girls. 2 . "It"s a pity but
it doesn"t matter."says Zeng, who wastes no time in deciding to look for the remaining child, Su Qiuju.
After half an hour, they stop outside a small house made of mud brick.A middleaged man and a girl
in a faded pink dress greet them.Su Qiuju is eight years old.She was forced to drop out of school after
both her parents died.She is now living with her uncle who cannot afford his own children"s education.
However, the year of education Su Qiuju did complete was a successful one._3_.
When they are about to leave, Zeng says, "I must find a supporter for this girl to sponsor her
education."Zeng has made it his retirement task to help children complete their schooling.Back in 1999,
Zeng took part in a campaign started by the local women"s organization to help students from poor
families. __4 _.
His task had begun and since then he has spent his time persuading his friends and neighbors and
others to donate money."To me, children"s education is the most important. __5 _. I have to find
sufficient funding before the school opens in September."
When asked how long he will keep up his vital work as the community"s guardian angel, he has a
simple reply."Not until my eyes can"t see, and my feet can"t move."
A. They were having problems with their schoolwork
B. These are for the two girls he"s going to visit this morning
C. They live in a small village not very far, though only one of the girls is still living at home
D. She displayed a talent for handwriting, writing her threecharacter name neatly and beautifully
E. The thought of students dropping out of school bothers me so much that I can"t get to sleep at night
F. Of course, some people question why I would want to give up my retirement to go to so much trouble
G. He was so overcome by the tough situation of many poor children that he donated all his money to help out a girl
earthquake and lost their lives. What if we could have warned them? People are always trying hard
to find a way of preventing building collapsing (倒塌). Better materials and technology help, but are
not a solution. Just like humans, a building has its own life circle from "birth" to "death". If we know
when a building is going to collapse, we can repair it in advance or get out before it falls.
Now, scientists at the University of Illinois have developed a material that turns red before it breaks.
The invention could be used in things like climbing ropes, or bridge supports. The secret behind the
colorchanging material is a type of molecule (分子). A molecule is a group of atoms held together by
chemical bonds (化学键). Imagine you and your friends standing in a circle, holding hands. Each
person stands for one atom, your hands represent the bonds, and the entire circle represents a molecule.
If one person lets go of his or her hands, the molecule changes color. The research team put the
molecule into a soft material. When the researchers stretched (拉紧) the material, it turned bright red
a few seconds before it broke into two pieces. When they repeatedly stretched and relaxed the
material, without breaking it, it only turned a little red.
The major problem is, light can get rid of the red color. When the team shone a bright light on the
molecule, the broken bond was fixed, and the color disappeared. If bright light keeps the red color
from appearing, the material"s warning system will be useless. Scientists still have a lot of work to do
before the colorchanging molecule can be used outside the lab.
B. a way of warning before buildings collapse
C. a series of earthquakes in Haiti and Chile
D. a newlydiscovered structure of a molecule
B. there are problems to solve before putting the new material to use
C. bright light makes the red color visible to human eyes
D. the new material is unlikely to be used in building bridges
B. help building materials get stretched if necessary
C. prevent the earthquake from killing people
D. make building materials much stronger
B. a building has its own life circle of "birth" to "death"
C. a material with a certain type of molecule can turn red when stretched
D. the broken bond will fix itself when a molecule meets bright light
have. _1 .
Ideas about social class-whether a person is "workingclass" or "middleclass" -are one area
in which changes have been extremely slow.
In the past, the workingclass tended to be paid less than middleclass people. The typical
working man would collect his wages on Friday evening and then, it was widely believed, having
given his wife her "housekeeping", would go out and squander the rest on beer and betting.
The old style of what a middleclass man did with his money was perhaps nearer the truth. He
was and still is inclined to take a longerterm view. Not only did he regard buying a house as a
most important thing, but he also considered the education of his children as extremely important.
__2_. Only in very few cases did workers have the opportunity (or the education and training) to
make such longterm plans.
_3_. In a large number of cases factory workers earn as much as their middleclass supervisors
(管理者). Social security and laws to improve century, have made it less necessary than before to
worry about "tomorrow". Workingclass people seem slowly to be losing the feeling of inferiority(自
卑感). In fact there has been a growing tendency in the past few years for the middleclasses to feel
slightly ashamed of their position.
_4_.They generally tend to share very similar tastes in music and clothes, they spend their money
in having a good time, and save for holidays or longerterm plans when necessary. There seems to
be much less difference than in precious generations. _5_. As long as this gap exists, there will always
be a possibility that new conflicts and jealousies will emerge, or rather that the old conflicts will
reappear, but between different groups.
A. Nowadays, a great deal has changed
B. Both of these provided him and his family with security
C. As a result, differences in lifestyles and attitudes came into existence
D. However, we still have a wide gap between the wellpaid and the lowpaid
E. In recent years, the workingclass people have begun to design longterm plans
F. In some ways, however, very little has changed, particularly where attitudes are concerned
G. The changes in both lifestyles and attitudes are probably most easily seen among younger people
Habits are a funny thing. We reach for them mindlessly, setting our brains on autopilot and
relaxing into the unconscious comfort of familiar routine. "Not choice, but habit rules the
unreflecting creatures." William Wordsworth said in the 19th century. In the everchanging 21st
century, even the word "habit" carries a negative meaning.
So it seems contradictory to talk about habits in the same context as innovation (创新). But
brain researchers have discovered that when we consciously develop new habits, we create
parallel paths, and even entirely new brain cells, that can jump our trains of thought onto new,
innovative tracks.
Rather than dismissing ourselves as unchangeable creatures of habit, we can instead direct
our own change by consciously developing new habits. In fact, the more new things we try, the
more creative we become.
But don"t bother trying to kill off old habits; once those ruts of procedure are worn into the
brain, they"re there to stay. Instead, the new habits we deliberately press into ourselves create
parallel pathways that can bypass those old roads.
"The first thing needed for innovation is attraction to wonder," says Dawna Markova, author
of The Open Mind. "But we are taught instead to "decide", just as our president calls himself "the
Decider". " She adds, "however to decide is to kill off all possibilities but one. A good innovational
thinker is always exploring the many other possibilities."
"All of us work through problems in ways of which we"re unaware," she says. Researchers in
the late 1960s discovered that humans are born with the ability to approach challenges in four
primary ways : analytically, procedurally, collaboratively (合作地) and innovatively. At the end
of adolescence, however, the brain shuts down half of that ability, preserving only those ways of
thought that have seemed most valuable during the first decade or so of life.
The current emphasis on standardized testing highlights analysis and procedure, meaning that
few of us use our innovative and collaborative ways of thought. "This breaks the major rule in the
American belief system that anyone can do anything," explains M. J. Ryan, author of the 2006
book This Year I Will... and Ms Markova"s business partner. "That"s a lie that we have preserved,
and it fosters commonness. Knowing what you"re good at and doing even more of it create
excellence." This is where developing new habits comes in.
B. the development of habits can be predicted
C. the regulation of old habits can be transformed
D. the track of new habits can be created unconsciously
B. connections
C. situations
D. tracks
B. Curiosity makes creative minds active.
C. Creative ideas are born of a relaxing mind.
D. Formation of innovation comes from fantastic ideas.
B. to create and develop new habits consciously
C. to resist the application of standardized testing
D. to believe that old habits conflict with new habits
communication between people contains giving and receiving information. The way we give and
receive information today has experienced a revolution in the development of the mass media in the
20th century.
The first truly mass communication medium was the newspaper. For the first time in history people
could read about events in their country and from around the world every day. However, there were
two problems with newspapers of that time. Firstly, newspapers were available only in large cities, for
getting newspapers to the countryside was a difficult and timeconsuming (耗时的) task. Secondly,
newspapers weren"t always reliable, as there was a limited range of opinions.
Nowadays, we can choose from a wide variety of sources to get information. Television and the
Internet have given us the chance to be informed about everything the minute it happens. Large
numbers of radio and TV stations, satellite channels and millions of websites help people keep up
with the latest news. People live in history and are part of it.
The media have come a long way in the last century and there is no doubt that we now live in the
information age. Whatever type of media we choose, it all comes down to the need for information.
This will always be a basic need as long as communication is part of human nature.
B. human communication involves people"s participation
C. information is now experiencing a revolution
D. information helps people gather together
B. It helped the mass communication develop in cities.
C. It kept people timely informed about home and world events.
D. It kept reliable information available in big cities.
B. people be part of history
C. inform everything timely
D. produce the latest news
B. information
C. high technology
D. media types
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